Clark Burscough | June 19, 2026
Well, after four long years of waiting, it’s finally that time again, as people around the world gather together in celebration of that most universal of experiences, no matter your broadcast timezone or national allegiance — that’s right, a new volume of Kiyohiko Azuma’s Yotsuba&! has been published, and so all is right with the world, if only for the brief span of time spent travelling between its front and back covers, no matter what this week’s links, below, might have you believe.
— Farel Dal (@farel.bsky.social) 2026-06-02T16:23:21.385Z
This week’s news.
• Starting our latest selection with news out of Poland, as it was reported that caricaturist and satirist Robert Kuzovkov (aka Semyon Skrepetsky), an outspoken critic of the regimes of Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, Ramzan Kadyrov, and more, was shot dead in Poland this week - Skrepetsky had been involved in Russia Day protests in Berlin last week, and a suspect in the shooting was reported to have been detained by Polish authorities yesterday morning.
• Elsewhere, looking to crackdowns from publishers in East Asia against piracy sites, it was reported that the husband and wife team that allegedly owned and operated one of the internet’s largest webtoon piracy networks – comprising the Harimanga, Manhwaclan and Kunmanga websites – were arrested in Vietnam last month, with the couple to be charged locally for their activities, while, in a separate case, the alleged owner of the manga and webtoon piracy site Newtokki was extradited to South Korea last week following their arrest for illegal activities in Japan, as South Korean authorities step up their anti-piracy activities, mirroring the efforts of Japan’s Content Overseas Distribution Association.
• Here at TCJ, Zach Rabiroff reports on attempted layoffs of staff members in Dark Horse’s IT and operations departments, subsequent to the agreement by the publisher to voluntarily recognise Dark Horse Workers United, the union of employees of Dark Horse, with DHWU and the Communication Workers of America having sent a cease and desist letter to Dark Horse management in the face of “sudden actions against the workforce that we believe violate the status status quo of operations until we negotiate a contract.”
• In comics prizes news, the nominees for this year’s American Manga Awards were announced, chosen by the judging panel of Frederico Anzalone, Kyle Cardine, Helen Chazan, Dani Kingston, and Gigi Murakami, with the winners in each category to be announced on August 20th as part of this year’s Anime NYC events.
• In fundraising news, a GoFundMe was set up to cover funeral costs for former Comics Journal contributor and editor of Heavy Metal Ted White, who died last month at the age of 88. Donations can be made here.
• In memoriam, remembering those the world of comics has lost, as news was shared of the passing of paintoonist and saxophonist Jerry Moriarty, creator of Jack Survives, who has died at the age of 88. Gary Groth’s 2008 interview with Moriarty for The Comics Journal can be read here.
Still a work in progress, but we're on here now! Nashville Comic Arts Festival 2026 is coming up on October 3rd at Vanderbilt Central Library! Applications are open until July 6! Poster by Shelley Couvillion!
— Nashville Comic Arts Festival (@nashcomicartfest.bsky.social) 2026-06-14T01:49:07.808Z
This week’s reviews.
TCJ
Helen Chazan reviews the exhilarating intensity of Noroi Michiru’s The Horrors of Noroi Michiru, Volume 1, translated by Dan Luffey “Where Noroi's work shines is its manic pacing and gory body horror, lurid and crude to the point of absurdity. And when it comes to writing psychotic women, Michiru is a master.”
AIPT
• Chris Coplan reviews the emotional connection of Andre R. Frattino, Yasmín Flores Montañez, et al’s We Are Pan.
• Collier Jennings reviews the eye-searing terror of Ethan S. Parker, Griffin Sheridan, Tristan Jones, et al’s The Horror of Godzilla #1.
• David Brooke reviews the cinematic action of Jonathan Hickman, Adam Kubert, et al’s Spider-Man: Long Way Home #1.
• Jonathan Waugh reviews the balanced finale of Ashley Allen, German Peralta, et al’s Magik & Colossus #5.
• George Loftus reviews the speedy read of Jeff Lemire, Haining, et al’s Absolute Flash #16.
• Michael Guerrero reviews the exemplary mystery of Dan Watters, Denys Cowan, et al’s Nightwing #139.
The Beat
• Zack Quaintance reviews the internal mythology of Mathieu Bablet and Guillaume Singelin's Shin Zero, Book 1, translated by Dan Christensen.
• Steve Baxi reviews the intimate moments of Mark Mosedale and Si Smith’s Gigs.
• Joe Grunenwald reviews the refreshed entertainment of Tate Brombal, Marcus To, et al’s New Titans #36.
• D. Morris reviews the striking visuals of Paul Chadwick’s Concrete: Stars Over Sand #1.
• Jared Bird reviews the romantic chemistry of Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Alex Nieto, et al’s Hellboy In Love: Obsidian #1.
• Jordan Jennings reviews the solid start of Steve Orlando, Miquel Mora, et al’s Land of Never #1.
• Clyde Hall reviews the engaging optimism of Ray Fawkes, Lynne Yoshii, et al’s The Phantom vs. The Red Dragons #1; and the satisfying beginning of Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi, Stefano Simeone, et al’s The Trillion Dollar Kid #1.
Blogcritics
Jeff Provine reviews the narrative rhythm of Luke Healy’s Dogs on Dates.
Broken Frontier
• Harish P. I reviews the contemporary issues of Jennie Wood, Josh Cornillon, et al’s I Didn’t Ask for This.
• Lindsay Pereira reviews the impressive scope of Tillie Walden’s Charity & Sylvia.
Comics Grinder
Paul Buhle reviews the unique reinventions of R. Sikoryak’s Declaration Illustrated and Emancipation Illustrated.
Four Color Apocalypse
Ryan Carey reviews the comedic timing of Nick Thorburn’s Pear Shape #1.
House to Astonish
Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men #31, Wolverine #21, and Bishop #1.
Kirkus Reviews
Have starred capsule reviews of:
- The beautiful melancholy of Ben Hatke’s Home/World: A Circumnavigation of Our Shared Earth.
- The personal reframing of Joann Sfar’s To Life: A Cartoonist’s Journal in the Aftermath of October 7th, translated by Montana Kane.
- The brilliant execution of Rex Ogle and LJ-Baptiste’s Absent.
- The heartwarming ending of Huda Fahmy’s Huda F Would Love You?.
Portland Mercury
Suzette Smith reviews the little details of Tillie Walden’s Charity & Sylvia.
Solrad
Aria Baci reviews the recurring themes of Paradise Systems’ System 01: Hot Net Hotel.
Toronto Review
Martin Dolan reviews the off-kilter intelligence of Michael DeForge’s All the Cameras in My Room.
Yatta-tachi
• Adam Wescott reviews the generic start of Chlona’s FISHGOD, Volume 1, translated by Trish Ledoux Yoshida.
• Alex Henderson reviews the breezy fun of Daruma and Hyaluron’s Koharu and Minato: Happy Life with My Girlfriend, translated by Megan Turner.
just assembled some new copies of Porro the Hero with riso-printed covers. they will be at Frog Farm in NYC this sunday
— Beatrix Urkowitz ~ (@bmfu.net) 2026-06-18T13:43:11.303Z
This week’s interviews.
TCJ
From the archives, originally published by PennLive/The Patriot-News in 2006, TCJ’s co-editor Chris Mautner interviews Marjane Satrapi, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 56, about Chicken With Plums — “I wanted to write a book about poetry. I wanted to write a book about death. I wanted to write a book about who the artist is, because the artist is extremely egocentric, extremely narcissistic, like myself, but at the same time we’re charming, you know?”
AIPT
• Chris Coplan chats with Kelly Thompson about Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sunnydale connections, and with Christian Ward about The Patron and keeping the story unpredictable.
• Chris Hassan speaks with Murewa Ayodele about Storm and learning from your own mistakes and those of others, and with Jed MacKay about DNX and the current status quo of myriad mutants.
Anime News Network
Rebecca Silverman interviews masterlynx and REKU about their recent silver medal wins in Kadokawa's Wordless World Manga Contest, for Heartsteel and Dungeon Duo respectively, and the challenges that go into making a 'silent' story.
Broken Frontier
Andy Oliver talks to Nessie Mooo about Deathmetal and the exotic setting of Leicestershire, and to KitsuneArt about Through the Looking Glass and the threat of Artificial Intelligence.
Buzz Magazine
Ben Woolhead speaks with Myfanwy Tristram about Noisy Valley, the history of the Rhondda and peaceful protest, and keeping the project as local as possible.
The Creative Independent
Sean Edgar chats with Jeffrey Brown about Climb Every Mountain, thoughts on creativity in the age of Artificial Intelligence, and the community-focused nature of comics.
Fanbase Press
Barbra Dillon interviews:
- Dan Goldman about Red Light Properties: Unfinished Business and receiving an Eisner Nomination with Kinjin’s Storylab’s first published title.
- Bruno Catarino about (Space) Odyssey #1 and not adapting the source material too closely.
- Rob Guillory about Ghostbrawler and the financial realities of comics publishing.
GraphicMemoir
Jonathan Sandler speaks with Alex Potts about Was That Normal?, self-publishing origins, the need to draw every day, and the importance of learning by doing.
The New York Times
• Calum Marsh talks to Peter Gallagher about Heathcliff, finding a new audience in the social media age, and the shift into surrealism to be found in contemporary strips.
• Robert Ito interviews Tillie Walden about Charity & Sylvia, figuring out historical research from first principles, and avoiding the tropes of precious queer love stories.
RetroFuturista
Dominique Musorrafiti chats with Ben Marra about What We Mean by Yesterday, finding creative balance, examinations of male behaviour, and writing with sincerity.
SKTCHD
David Harper talks to Steve Morris about work at Shelfdust and 2000 AD, comics criticism origins, and competition in this year’s Eisner Awards.
Smash Pages
JK Parkin speaks with Juan Gedeon about Super Mondo Mega Mutts, comics reading origins, the violence of the series, and future projects on the horizon.
The Wire
Sidharth Bhatia talks to Joe Sacco about The Once and Future Riot, Penguin Random House India’s decision not to distribute the book, and the process of researching and making the book.
Yatta-tachi
Adam Wescott interviews Moka Onmae and Tsubasa Kosaka about Good Morning, Good Night, and See You Tomorrow and their collaboration as mangaka and editor.
Illustraion
— Tony Millionaire (@tonymillionaire.bsky.social) 2026-04-09T02:44:24.264Z
This week’s features and longreads.
• Here at TCJ, Cynthia Rose writes in remembrance of the life and work of Marjane Satrapi, creator of Persepolis and Chicken With Plums, who died earlier this month at the age of 56 — “The ideas of freedom Satrapi formed when young directed every choice she made in later life. They drove her decision not to have children, her renunciation of comics amidst global fame and her realization that painting actually pleased her more than making movies. Freedom, she believed, was not something to analyse but something to live. Right up until the end, that's what she did.”
• Also for TCJ, RJ Casey welcomes by hand a new class of Arrivals and Departures, this month sharing thoughts on Parker Davis’ Cryptid Corner, Josephine M.K. Edwards’ Bigfoot Business Shoe, and Emily Zimmer’s Vore-Tex — “Sometimes when I read submissions to this column I’m on the couch and my son is playing keepy-uppy with a balloon in the same room. If the balloon gets close, I’ll hit it with the comic and he yells, “Book whack!” That’s a perfect description if there ever was one of what I’ve been doing here for years.”
• Over at Shelfdust, Zack Quaintance writes on the effective horror of the unknown, as induced by John Lees and Alex Cormack’s Glaswegian-set horror, Sink; and a new series of article reprints from The Comics Courier begins with Tiffany Babb on the open questions of James Tynion IV and Joshua Hixson’s The Deviant.
• A trio of recent manga articles from Aftermath, as Janus Rose writes from a contemporary perspective on the trans-positivity to be found in Hisashi Eguchi’s Stop!! Hibari-kun, and Isaiah Colbert writes on the brilliant contradictions of Machiko Kyo’s Cocoon and the deeper truths to be found in Ai Yazawa’s I’m No Angel.
• A fresh Mindless Ones newsletter brings with it the twin appreciations of Marvel UK’s Star Wars Weekly and Paul Jon Milne’s Suture, as well as thoughts on this year’s World Cup, now in progress.
• From the world of open-access academia, in cultura & psyché, Svetlana Efimova presents a study on the engagement of readers with multiple perspectives on the past via Marek Toman and Jan Blažek’s The Expelled Children and Yuliya Brykova and Kristina Kretova’s War vs. Childhood, and the way in which comics are suited to an agonistic approach to memory.
• For Language Resources and Evaluation, a sizable consortium of academics share analysis of panel information from the TINTIN corpus of comics to determine commonalities in comics pages and contrasting variability regarding panels and page construction.
• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, for The Daily Cartoonist, as consideration was given to the sportswashing of the World Cup and UFC bouts, as well as the art of the deal, or lack thereof.
New build
— Andi Watson (@andicomics.bsky.social) 2026-06-16T12:07:06.920Z
This week’s audio/visual delights.
• A selection of viewing and listening from around the world wide web, as Evan Dahm celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fantasy epic Rice Boy with an expansive video essay on the making of the comic and the inspirations of the surrealist movement, animation, Myst, and more
• Seattle’s KUOW helped celebrate Fantagraphics’ 50th anniversary, as Meet Me Here’s Katie Campbell spoke with readers, creators, and Fantagraphics personnel, including Eric Reynolds and Tucker Stone, about 50 years of Fanta.
• Brian Hibbs convened the Comix Experience Graphic Novel Club once more, as Dave Baker and Nicole Goux spoke about Punk’n Heads and working with Top Shelf to publish the book.
• Henry Chamberlain welcomed Katie Skelly to Comics Grinder, as they spoke about Heaven and the Bad Girl Tarot, the aesthetic influence of science fiction movie set construction, the decisions behind the formatting for the book, and exploring different creative spaces for the new tarot deck.
• Heidi MacDonald, Christian Holub, and Kate Fitzsimons spoke on the life and legacy of Marjane Satrapi for Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come, following her passing earlier this month, alongside coverage of ongoing legal woes at Archie Comics, and the publication of Alan Moore’s latest work of prose.
• And we close out the week with a trio of recent Off Panel interviews, as David Harper spoke with James Stokoe about Orphan and the Five Beasts and the value of creative freedoms, with Che Grayson about Absolute Catwoman and finding your way between mediums, and with Rob Guillory about Ghostbrawler and taking to Kickstarter to crowdfund the comic.
Sketchbook page
— Hannah Comstock (@hannahorca.bsky.social) 2026-06-15T05:34:22.353Z
No more links, it’s too hot, and links are emphatically not ice lollies, so they’re OUTTA HERE.
12 Jun 2026
— actual heathcliff comics (@realheathcliffs.bsky.social) 2026-06-12T18:10:51.694Z
English (US) · 